Floral Portaits by Joanna Ham project emotions and personalities.

It is fascinating to see how flowers continue to sow the seeds of inspiration for designers and artists and how they can reinvent the well-loved patterns we see in gardens and the wild and represent them in fresh approaches, giving them personalities.

Joanna Ham's Floral Portraits exhibited at Decorex in London, October 6 - 9 2019.  Her chosen subjects are placed on a pedestal and often bathed in light, separating them from reality and creating a sense of fantasy.

Above left, Coy and right, Surprise. 

Photos taken at Decorex by Lucia Carpio.

One British artist who uses photogram and mixed media to create her series of Floral Portraits is Joanna Ham, who exhibited her unique artwork at the Decorex International  trade fair for interior design professionals in London's Olympia this October.
  
Admirers are captivated by the way she captures and expresses the power of human sentiment through flowers in these portraits which are intricate botanical studies that Joanna manipulates and redraw to depict more than just their form.

Each floral portrait created by Joanna Ham projects emotions and personalities.   

Joanna explains that she draws inspiration from various sources, and has long been fascinated by the psychology behind the giving of flowers, and the act itself has become symbolic and a culturally-accepted expression of shared, frequently unspoken feeling, and this became a starting point for many of the prints in the floral collection which is a visual nod to the Dutch still-life movement.  

Her process in creating these portraits is unique, mixing traditional and contemporary techniques, always through a monochrome lens.  She photographs hundreds of flowers to find one that unlocks an idea, and then sets to work redrawing, editing and digitally manipulating to create an entirely new form.  Once complete, the image is transferred to silk screen and the final print is pulled by hand.

Each chosen subject is placed on a pedestal and often bathed in light, separating them from reality and creating a sense of fantasy.  Each floral portrait indeed projects emotions and personalities even.  

Joanna gained a BA in Fine Art with a specialism in anatomy at The Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford University.  She has exhibited with Liberty London, The Other Art Fair, London Design Festival, Billy Name, The Serena Morton Gallery and Modern Art Oxford.

In 2016, her work was selected for the National Original Print Exhibition by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.  And in 2018 she was shortlisted for the Global Rise Art Print Prize and awarded the Aviva Women of Future Arts and Culture Prize.

Joanna has created bespoke artwork for Nike, Hilton, The Berkeley, We Work, Print Club London and Eurostar's 20th Anniversary,  She is also the founder and illustrator of design brand HAM.  

Mary-Ann Watt features her unique paintings on desirable homeware and gifts

British artist Mary-Ann Watt has launched an online shop selling a selection of homeware and gifts featuring her unique paintings of realistic flowers.  By concentrating on presenting close-ups of a single flower or a bud about to blossom or a flowering branch, her paintings are intimate yet bold, giving her range of products a contemporary style.

Explained Mary-Ann, "Long before I started my business I was always looking for homewares that would complement the soft greys and greens of my home but I could never find anything.  And I knew from speaking to friends that I was not alone.  So using my paintings as a starting point I decided to create my own range which would be stylish, very high quality, but above all, really beautiful - things tht people would want to have in their homes.  I am incredibly proud of the results."


Having studied art
at school,  Mary-Ann focused on building a home and a family in her 20s and 30s and it was only until in her late 30s that Mary-Ann started dabbling again, painting large, contemporary bold an colourful pictures she could hang at home.

Fine bone china mugs, hand decorated and fired in Stoke on Trent, feature images of beautiful pom pom flowers

by Mary-Ann Watt. 

Cotton cushion individually hand-painted with pink blossoms by Mary-Ann Watt.

It was an obvious leap she made from her paintings to a range of homeware including placemats and aprons, cushion covers, trays, fine bone china mugs and jugs as well as greeting cards and postcards. If you like her art, framed prints and original paintings are also sold in her website.

Mary-Ann has now enlisted her marketing consultant husband to look after the sales and marketing side of the business so she can concentrate on the creative aspects.  Now business is flourishing and she has plans to extend her range of products.  She said the majority of her suppliers are small UK businesses as the personal relationships an the high quality of their work are both key to maintaining the signature look and feel of the artist.

Samantha Louise Emery launches IKONA / Mirrored Interior - A Collection of wearable art inspired by modern muses

IKONA 9 Malala Yousafzai,
Nobel Peace Prize winner and ardent activist
for women’s rights,by Samantha Louise Emery.

Artist Samantha Louise Emery presents a new collection of scarves and sarongs based on her series of powerful portraits IKONA | Mirrored Interior. The portraits of 10 modern muses represent the women who have inspired the artist throughout her life.

Emery presents the women in bright abstract forms with their features becoming distinguishable upon closer inspection.

IKONA 7 Caitlin Moran, columnist and candid comedian, by  Samantha Louise Emery.
Each portrait attempts to capture more than just a physical representation of the subject but seeks to reveal the deeper layers of the self and the Feminine spirit, looking to bring awareness to the positive effects of Feminine solidarity, says Emery.

Subjects of Emery's art span from an Anatolian vegetable seller Sadiye to Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and ardent activist for women’s rights, Grammy Award winner Angelique Kidjo.  There's Grammy Award winning musician Laurie Anderson, and British author and outspoken feminist Germaine Greer.

IKONA 4 Germaine Greer, author and outspoken feminist , by Samantha Louise Emery.

IKONA 3 Sadiye, matter of fact, maternal Anatolian vegetable seller by Samantha Louise Emery.
The scarves (28”x38”) and the sarongs (50”x66”) are at samanthalouiseemery.art/.  A portion of all income from the work is donated to the Working Chance charity and the Malala Fund. Working Chance is the only recruitment consultancy for women leaving the criminal justice and care systems. The Malala Fund works to give all girls the chance to an education.

IKONA 6 Krystyne Griffin, prominent jewellery designer and godmother by Samantha Louise Emery.

​Throughout the series Emery incorporates imagery of her own body, displaying her connection with her subject and laying bare her vulnerability as an artist, according to the Emery, the multimedia artist who splits her time between the UK and her studio in Bodrum, Turkey, her spiritual home.

Emery says, “IKONA honours ten women alive today who have inspired my evolution and journey in rediscovering the source of a woman’s power, the Feminine spirit.  I believe in the potential and majesty of female solidarity and feel privileged to live in a time of change, when many women have asserted their Feminine selves and have inspired others through their actions.”

The 10 muses in the series are:
IKONA 1 Laurie Anderson, creative pioneer and Grammy Award winning musician
IKONA 2 Angelique Kidjo, Fearless activist and Grammy Award winning singer
IKONA 3 Sadiye, matter of fact, maternal Anatolian vegetable seller
IKONA 4 Germaine Greer, author and outspoken feminist
IKONA 5 Alanis Obomsawin, spokeswoman for Native American and women’s rights
IKONA 6 Krystyne Griffin, prominent jewellery designer and godmother
IKONA 7 Caitlin Moran, columnist and candid comedian
IKONA 8 Jane Goodall, conservationist and impassioned animal rights activist
IKONA 9 Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace Prize winner and ardent activist for women’s rights
IKONA 10 Lucy, artist Samantha Louise Emery

Shauna Richardson among artists for Save Wild Tigers show at the Cafe Royal, London. Auction to take place at the Savoy.

An exclusive tiger-inspired art exhibition will take place at the Cafe Royal in London from 22nd September to 1st October.    Twelve designers were set a challenge by wildlife charity Save Wild Tigers to create works of art that will be sold for the charity at a gala dinner at the Savoy.

Among the featured artists is Shauna Richardson who invented the term Crochetdermy® for her distinctive crochet-sculptures.  She has set her global reputation based on her amazing crocheting techniques in creating realistic life-size animal forms.

Shauna set about crocheting a tiger working solely in white mohair yarn, the stripes and areas between the stripes being created using changes of stitch direction.

Shauna’s tiger inspired piece along with many other prestigious artists works will be on show at the Cafe Royal from 22nd September - 1st October before being auctioned at the Be Inspired Gala Dinner Event held at the Savoy London on the 9th October.

Shown here and above is her latest creation for Save Wild Tigers.

Among Shauna Richardson's latest creations is this stack of animals entitled The Bremen Musicians, which took eleven months to complete.

The Bremen Musicians is based on a German folk tale by the Brothers Grimm, and stands 3 metres tall. The tower, featuring four life-size animals - a donkey, dog, cat and a cockerel, was created using a flat battleship grey Aran wool which reflects the grey area between art and craft in which Richardson’s work inhabits.

She has also previously produced public art commissions including a flagship project for the London 2012 Olympic Games for which she crocheted three 25ft lions that toured the UK in a mobile glass vehicle.